Alfred Molina

At 70 years old, Alfred Molina has this physical status:

Alfred Molina (born 24 May 1953) is an English–American actor and voice artist.

He is known for his roles in Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981), Prick Up Your Ears (1987), Enchanted April (1992), Maverick (1994), Species (1995), Boogie Nights (1997), Chocolat (2000), Frida (2002), Luther (2003), Spider-Man 2 (2004), The Da Vinci Code (2006), An Education (2009), and Love Is Strange (2014).

He has voiced characters in Rango (2011), Monsters University (2013), Ralph Breaks the Internet (2018), and Frozen II (2019). Molina rose to prominence in the West End, earning a Laurence Olivier Award for Best Newcomer in a Play nomination for his performance in the production of Oklahoma! in 1980.

He made his Broadway debut as Yvan in a production of Art from 1998 to 1999.

His other Broadway roles include Tevye in the musical Fiddler on the Roof from 2004 to 2005 and Mark Rothko in the play Red from 2009 to 2010. For his portrayal of Robert Aldrich in the FX anthology television series Feud (2017), Molina was nominated for a Golden Globe Award and a Primetime Emmy Award.

Early life

He was born Alfredo Molina on 24 May 1953 in Paddington, London. His father, Esteban J. Molina, was a Spanish immigrant from Murcia, who came to England in 1939, and worked as a waiter and chauffeur. His mother, Giovanna (née Bonelli), was an Italian immigrant who moved to Britain after World War II, and who cleaned rooms in a hotel, and worked as a cook and housekeeper. Molina grew up in a working class district in Notting Hill that was inhabited by many other immigrant families. He decided to become an actor after seeing Spartacus at the age of nine, and attended the Guildhall School of Music and Drama, as well as auditioning for and becoming a member of the National Youth Theatre. At the age of 21, he changed his name to Alfred, at the urging of his first agent.

Personal life

Molina married actress Jill Gascoine in Tower Hamlets, London. They were married from 1986 until her death on 28 April 2020 in Los Angeles from Alzheimer's disease.

Molina resides in Los Angeles, California. In 2004, he announced that he had become a U.S. citizen. He is fluent in English, Spanish, and Italian. In 2017, he moved to La Cañada Flintridge.

In addition to acting, Molina is an advocate for people with Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). He donates towards AIDS research, participates in the Los Angeles AIDS Walk and appeared as himself in a documentary produced by Joseph Kibler (who has been HIV+ and paraplegic since his birth, c. 1989) about Kibler's life titled Walk On, first screened in 2013.

Molina endorsed Senator Bernie Sanders for president in the 2016 U.S. presidential election.

In November 2019, director Jennifer Lee confirmed that she is in a relationship with Molina. They were married in August 2021.

For his portrayal of Sayyed Bozorg Mahmoody in Not Without My Daughter, Molina was once assaulted on his way to a rehearsal by a man who mistook him for Mahmoody.

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Career

In the sitcom The Losers (1978), Molina appeared alongside Leonard Rossiter. Satipo, Indiana Jones' ill-fated guide, made his film debut in Steven Spielberg's Adventure film Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981) as Indiana Jones' ill-fated guide during the film's iconic opening sequence. In an interview in 2013, Molina said that he owes his stage and film career to the Indiana Jones series. "I'm very proud of this work" says the artist, "Oh, this is going to go down in movie history." "I'd never been in front of a camera before," Molina said of his short but memorable appearance in Raiders of the Lost Ark. "I've publicly thanked Steven many, many times" as he recalled his appointment as a "gift from God" and said, "I've publicly thanked Steven many, many times." In more ways than one, this job saved my bacon." Molina recalled that "I've never had a problem with people coming up to me about his now-famous line in the film." 'Throw me the goddess, I'll throw you the whip,' a gang's yell at me.' People are still remembering it, and I'm delighted that it is so.

However, he made his breakthrough with Letter to Brezhnev (1985), which he followed with a starring role in Prick Up Your Ears (1987), starring Joe Orton's lover (and eventual murderer) Kenneth Halliwell. Arnold Rimmer was originally cast as Arnold Rimmer in the TV sitcom Red Dwarf, but Chris Barrie replaced him.

Molina made a regular presence on British television in the early 1990s, with his most prominent role being the pilot in the first two series of El C.I.D. He appeared in critically acclaimed films including Mike Newell's costume drama Enchanted April (1992), Richard Donner's western comedy Maverick (1994), and Jim Jarmusch's western Dead Man (1995). The drama Not Without My Daughter (1991), the science fiction horror film Species (1995), and the broad comedy Dudley Do-Right (1999) are among the subpoenas. Molina appeared in the US television series Ladies Man, which aired from 1999-2001, with a Midwestern American accent. He appeared in A Year in Provence's BBC miniseries version in 1993, as Tony, as well as John Thaw and Lindsay Duncan. In 1995, Molina appeared in The Perez Family with Marisa Tomei, portraying Cuban refugees who pretend to be married in order to more easily remain in America. Marjorie Baumgarten praised Molina for achieving "the right mixture of subtle reverence and baffled stupefaction" to portray his image, but Los Angeles Times' Peter Rainer called Molina "so intensely sodden that he's like a huge scowling dark cloud." Molina has appeared in Boogie Nights (1997) and then in Magnolia (1999).

Molina appeared in Lasse Hallström's Chocolat in 2000, earning critical acclaim and an Academy Award for Best Picture nomination. He received acclaim for his role as Diego Rivera alongside Salma Hayek in the biographical Frida (2002), a role for which he received BAFTA and SAG award nominations. In Jarmusch's Coffee and Cigarettes (2003), he starred Johann Tetzel and Octopus in Spider-Man 2 (2004), one of the best-grossing films of the year, earning him more commercial success. Molina was nominated for a Satellite Award as Best Supporting Actor for the second time. In the video game version, he reprised his role. Molina portrayed Touchstone in Kenneth Branagh's film adaptation of Shakespeare's As You Like It, and appeared in Ron Howard's adaptation of The Da Vinci Code. In the 2009 animated film Wonder Woman, Molina played the villain Ares.

Two major Royal National Theatre performances, Tennessee Williams' The Night of the Irmuana (as Shannon) and David Mamet's Speed-the-Plow were among Molina's stage performances, as Fox. Molina appeared in Yasmina Reza's Tony Award-winning play 'Art', for which he received a Tony nomination in 1998. Molina returned to theatre in 2004, starring Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof's Broadway revival. He has been nominated for his role as a Best Actor in a Musical once more. He received his third Tony Award nomination in 2010 for Best Actor in a Play.

The Chopin Manuscript, Molina's first audiobook for Audible.com, was released in 2007. Jeffery Deaver, Lee Child, Joseph Finder, and Lisa Scottoline contributed to this serialized thriller written by a group of 15 best-selling thriller writers, including Jeffery Deaver, Lee Child, Joseph Finder, and Lisa Scottoline. The book was named a recipient of the 2008 Audiobook of the Year Award from the Audio Publishers Association.

Mark Rothko, artist Mark Rothko in John Logan's drama Red opposite Eddie Redmayne, opened Molina in the role of artist Mark Rothko in a limited engagement until June 27. He had been involved in much critical success at the Donmar Warehouse in London in December 2009 and had reprised his role as the Wyndham's Theatre in the West End in 2018.

With a second series in 2012, Molina appeared opposite Dawn French in the six-part BBC sitcom Roger & Val Have Just Got In.

Doctor Octopus from Spider-Man 2, Satipo from Raiders of the Lost Ark, and Sheik Amar from Prince of Persia are among the three Lego Minifigures modeled after him.

Molina had been named in July 2010 as Deputy District Attorney Morales, according to Law & Order: Los Angeles. In 2005, he appeared in two other Law & Order franchise shows, Law & Order: The Special Victims Unit and Law & Order: Jury trial.

Molina is a member of Theatre Train, a performing arts company. He is also a long-serving member of The New American Theatre, which was once known as Circus Theatricals, where he teaches Shakespeare and Scene Study alongside company artistic director Jack Stehlin.

In Ryan Murphy's FX limited series Feud: Bette & Joan, he portrayed film director Robert Aldrich. The series revolved around the filming of What Ever Happened to Baby Jane? Bette Davis and Joan Crawford were actors in 1962 and Joan Crawford's friendship was portrayed by Susan Sarandon and Jessica Lange respectively. Molina received critical praise for the film as well as awards recognition from the Primetime Emmy Awards and the Golden Globe Awards for his role.

In 2020, Molina appeared in David Oyelowo's drama The Water Man and Emerald Fennell's black comedy drama Promising Young Women. On December 8, 2020, it was announced that Doctor Octopus for Spider-Man: No Way Home in the Marvel Cinematic Universe would return as Doctor Octopus. In No Way Home, Molina later confirmed that he'd be reprising his role as Doctor Octopus' Spider-Man 2 incarnation, retconning his character's apparent death at the end of the film. He was digitally aged to his 2004 self.

Alfred Molina, a Crown producer Left Bank Pictures's ninth film, will appear in Three Pines, which comes from The Crown producer Left Bank Pictures. Molina will appear as Chief Inspector Armand Gamache of Sûreté du Québec, the lead character from Louise Penny's book series, as well as executive producers on the program. The trailer debuted in Octobre 2022 and announced the show's premiere in Decembre 2022.

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